Woman’s trial in NY fire-fatal shooting case delayed to April

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

ROCHESTER (AP) >> A trial has been delayed until next year for an upstate New York woman accused of buying the guns a convicted felon used to shoot and kill firefighters in the town of Webster during a Christmas Eve ambush last year.

Dawn Nguyen’s trial is now scheduled for April, said David Marion, a spokesman for the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office. Jury selection had been set to begin Tuesday.

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported that defense attorney John Parrinello requested the delay because he was concerned an adjournment during Thanksgiving week could compromise the trial. The next available spot on the judge’s calendar is April.

Nguyen is charged with falsifying a business record. Prosecutors say she lied on a gun purchase form in 2010. They say she claimed a semi-automatic rifle and 12-gauge shotgun she bought were for her when they were really for ex-convict William Spengler Jr. She has denied the charges.

Nguyen faces similar charges in federal court.

Police said Spengler used the guns to kill firefighters Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka, and wound Joseph Hofstetter and Ted Scardino early on the morning of Dec. 24. Spengler killed himself during a shootout with police. Spengler lured the firefighters into an ambush by setting fire to his house, where investigators later found remains identified those of his 67-year-old sister, Cheryl Spengler. She had been shot in the head.